In 1949, the ambitious young Andy Warhola moved to New York to pursue a career as a commercial artist. “The future is New York City,” he told his skeptical mother.

As an illustrator, it was the unusual quality of Andy’s drawing that drew the attention of clients and other artists, including Peter Blake: “What attracted me was a certain fluid, broken line. Matisse draws in one line. Warhol made the pen stutter.’

Before transitioning into the internationally acclaimed artist of the serious avant-garde, Andy established himself as one of the most sought-after commercial artists of the decade.

His clients included virtually every fashion magazine in the NYC and the record labels Columbia, RCA and Blue Note, for whom he designed a diversity of jazz and classical record album sleeves, sometimes collaborating with the brilliant graphic designer Reid Miles and often with Julia Warhola, his mother, whose ornate calligraphy is unmistakable in Andy’s early art.

The first three discs of this edition present selections of the music to be found on the albums Warhol designed for record companies in the years leading up to the Pop Art Explosion; from Chopin to Moondog, from George Gershwin to Thelonious Monk.

Disc Four, ‘Andy’s New York’, provides a suitably evocative backdrop to Warhol’s rise to prominence, showcasing the work of many of the pioneering jazz and avant-garde artists in the NYC of those times, including such giants as Charles Mingus, John Cage and – in the vanguard of free form jazz – a personal favorite of Lou Reed, Ornette Coleman.

CD 1:
1. Gioachino Rossini – William Tell Overture – NBC Symphony Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini
2. Carlos Chávez – Xochipili-Macuilxochitl – An Imagined Aztec Music
3. Carlos Chávez: Danza a Centeotl from Los Cuatro Soles (The Four Suns)
4. Sergei Prokofiev – Field of the Dead from Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78 Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Philadelphia Orchestra, Westminster Choir / Eugene Ormandy
5. Robert Schumann – Des Abends (In the Evening) from Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 – Arthur Rubinstein: piano
6. Ludwig van Beethoven – Adagio Cantabile from Piano Sonata No. 8, in C Minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique” Arthur Rubinstein: piano
7. Manuel de Falla – Ritual Fire Dance / Boston Pops Orchestra / Arthur Fiedler
8. The Continental / Boston Pops Orchestra / Arthur Fiedler
9. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Allegro moderato from Violin Concerto in D major, Op 35 – Erica Morini, Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Désiré Defauw
10. - 28. Felix Mendelssohn – Variations Sérieuses, Op. 54 – Vladimir Horowitz: piano
29. Franz Liszt – Funérailles (Harmonies Poétiques Et Religieuses No. 7) – Vladimir Horowitz: piano

This simply incredible 4CD collection of music originally released with artwork by the legendary artist opens on the stirring, decent acoustics enhanced, veritably peerless performance of William Tell Overture – NBC Symphony Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini (Gioachino Rossini) and the atmospherically-charged Xochipili-Macuilxochitl – An Imagined Aztec Music (Carlos Chávez) and they are followed by the emphatic Danza a Centeotl from Los Cuatro Soles (The Four Suns) (again Carlos Chávez), the aching yearn found within Field of the Dead from Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78 Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Philadelphia Orchestra, Westminster Choir / Eugene Ormandy (Sergei Prokofiev) and then we get the delicate Des Abends (In the Evening) from Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 – Arthur Rubinstein: piano (Robert Schumann).

Along next is truly on of Beethoven’s masterpieces, the ornate beauty of Adagio Cantabile from Piano Sonata No. 8, in C Minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique” Arthur Rubinstein: piano (Ludwig van Beethoven) and the vibrantly frenetic wonderment of Ritual Fire Dance / Boston Pops Orchestra / Arthur Fiedler (Manuel de Falla) and they are in turn backed by the Oscar-winning song from “The Gay Divorcee,” the flirtatious The Continental / Boston Pops Orchestra / Arthur Fiedler, the sheer elegance of Allegro moderato from Violin Concerto in D major, Op 35 – Erica Morini, Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Désiré Defauw (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), the disc rounding out on a set of amazingly decadent orchestrations within Variations Sérieuses, Op. 54 – Vladimir Horowitz: piano (Felix Mendelssohn), and the sterner affair of Funérailles (Harmonies Poétiques Et Religieuses No. 7) – Vladimir Horowitz: piano (Franz Liszt).

CD 2:
1. George Gershwin – Rhapsody In Blue / Byron Janis: piano
2. George Gershwin – Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture – Arr. Robert Russell Bennett / Indianapolis Symphony / Fabien Sevitzky
3. Kenny Burrell – But Not for Me
4. - 10. Maurice Ravel – Daphnis et Chloé – Scene Three – Boston Symphony Orchestra / Charles MunchFrédéric Chopin – Nocturnes Op. 9
11. No. 1 in B-Flat Minor: Larghetto
12. No. 2 in E-Flat Major: Andante
13. No. 3 in B Major: Allegretto Frédéric Chopin – Nocturnes Op. 15 – Jan Smeterlin: piano
14. No. 1 in F Major: Andante cantabile
15. No. 2 in F-Sharp Major: Larghetto
16. No. 3 in G Minor: Lento

The second disc opens on the classical-pop ambiance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue / Byron Janis: piano George Gershwin and his emphatically charged, stirringly gripping Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture – Arr. Robert Russell Bennett / Indianapolis Symphony / Fabien Sevitzky, and then proceeds to bring us Kenny Burrell’s beautiful But Not for Me, a deliciously inspiring set of Daphnis et Chloé – Scene Three – Boston Symphony Orchestra / Charles MunchFrédéric Chopin – Nocturnes Op. 9 (Maurice Ravel), the disc rounding out on a sextet from Chopin: an elegant No. 1 in B-Flat Minor: Larghetto, the amazingly beautiful No. 2 in E-Flat Major: Andante, the languishingly ornate No. 3 in B Major: Allegretto Frédéric Chopin – Nocturnes Op. 15 – Jan Smeterlin: piano, and then come the flourishing No. 1 in F Major: Andante cantabile, the delicately embroidered No. 2 in F-Sharp Major: Larghetto, closing on the exquisitely fragile No. 3 in G Minor: Lento.

CD 3:
Count Basie & His Orchestra
1. 7th Avenue Express
2. Wonderful Thing
3. Rat Race
Joe Newman Octet
4. Top Hat, White Tie and Tails
Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
5. Jungle Drums
6. Lady Day
Jay Jay Johnson – Kai Winding
7. Riviera
8. Hip Bones
9. Wind Bag
10. We’ll Be Together Again
Bennie Green
11. Whirl-a-licks
Cool Gabriels
12. Elevation
Thelonious Monk
13. We See
14. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
15. Locomotive
Moondog
16. Perpetual Motion
17. Trimbas in Quarters
18. Trimbas in Eighths
19. Organ Rounds
Johnny Griffin
20. I’m Glad There Is You
Kenny Burrell
21. Yes Baby
22. Autumn in New York

The third disc opens on three from Count Basie & His Orchestra: the scintillating 7th Avenue Express, the preciseness of Wonderful Thing, the wonderfully explosive Rat Race, and then we get the swinger, finger-snapping delight Top Hat, White Tie and Tails (Joe Newman Octet), two from Artie Shaw & His Orchestra: the beautiful clarinet from the leader and nice drums from George Wettling of Jungle Drums and the forthright Lady Day.

Along next is a quartet from Jay Jay Johnson & Kai Winding: the translucent Riviera, the emphatic Hip Bones, the glorious Wind Bag and the luxurious We’ll Be Together Again, and then we get Bennie Green’s boisterously wonderful Whirl-a-licks and Cool Gabriels’ sultry smoker Elevation, before a trio from Thelonious Monk is upon us: the swinging We See, the Monk-styled reassembly of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, and a fantastic arrangement of Locomotive.

Closing the disc out is a quartet from Moondog: the veritably shimmering, sparkling Perpetual Motion, the vibrant Trimbas in Quarters, the rhythmic, drum-led Trimbas in Eighths and the magical chords found within Organ Rounds, and then comes Johnny Griffin’s dynamic I’m Glad There Is You, and finally we are presented a duo from Kenny Burrell: the impassioned Yes Baby and the beautifully arranged Autumn in New York.

CD 4:
Andy’s New York
1. Eric Dolphy & Booker Little – Ode to Charlie Parker
2. Charles Mingus – Better Git It In Your Soul
3. Morton Feldman – Piece for Four Pianos
4. Ornette Coleman – Peace
5. Lambert Hendricks & Ross – Cloudburst
6. Jimmy Giuffre 3 – Brief Hesitation
7. Gunther Schuller – Abstract Trio from Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee
8. John Cage – Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano: Sonata II
9. Modern Jazz Quartet – Versailles
10. Bill Evans Trio – Alice In Wonderland
11. Luciano Berio & Cathy Berberian – Circles
12. Cecil Taylor Quartet with Albert Ayler – Four (excerpt)
13. Lenny Bruce – Blah Blah Blah…

Andy Warhol… Prince of Pop Art… Manager of the Velvet Underground… Cultural Icon. Whatever you call him, he was a master at his profession and thus this fourth disc provides a suitably evocative backdrop to Warhol’s rise to prominence, showcasing the work of many of the pioneering jazz and avant-garde artists in the NYC of those times.

Inclusive of the exceptional opener Eric Dolphy & Booker Little Ode to Charlie Parker and the stand up, naughty routine closer by the one, the only Lenny Bruce Blah Blah Blah..., in-between we get such greats as the killer phrasing, tone, emotion and soul within Ornette Coleman’s Peace, Jimmy Giuffre 3’s smoldering Brief Hesitation and what to me was the peak of jazz, a symphony in a trio within Bill Evans Trio’s Alice In Wonderland.

Official 4CD Purchase Link